


We're Still Breathing

by flightlesscrow



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, History, iceland learns some stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightlesscrow/pseuds/flightlesscrow
Summary: Iceland had never understood his family's childishness and why they seemed to treat him as a little kid as often as they could, but an event at a get together they all had was a real eye-opener for him, and he soon learned the reason as to why they did the things that annoyed him.





	

Iceland had never understood why his family, the rest of the Nordics, acted as childish and immature as they did. Iceland himself tried his best to act mature, like he thought an adult should act, despite himself not being an adult himself yet. Everyone around him treated him as a child, though, and they themselves acted like they were not as old as they were. This thoroughly confused him, but he never thought to ask about it. He figured it was just them being themselves. As much as that annoyed him, he couldn’t change it, so he learned to live with it. Living with it and understanding and accepting it were two different things, however. He had not learned the difference until something happened at a get together all the Nordics had.

It was a chilly October night, and Denmark had invited everyone over to his house to hang out. Iceland was already there for something he and Den has discussed earlier, and the others took little to no time getting to Denmark’s house. Sweden arrived first, followed by Finland, and eventually Norway. 

“Sorry I’m so late. Ice, I picked up some juice and soda for you.” Norway had said upon arrival. Iceland rolled his eyes.    
  
“Thanks, but I’m not a child, Nor.” Iceland huffed. Norway had a small smile on his face. 

“You say that, lillebror, but you’re still the baby of the family. Also, you’re not old enough to drink alcohol, so in that way you still are a child no matter how much you protest.” Iceland groaned. He couldn’t wait for the day that his brother (and by extension, the rest of the Nordics) would stop treating him as if he was a young child.    
  
“I’ve been living for centuries, I’m not a ‘baby.’ Right, Sve?” Iceland turned to Sweden. He knew that Sweden was usually the only one to agree with him on matters like this.

“Sorry, Ice. Nor’s right on this one.” Sweden said, nodding towards Norway, who looked a little to smug for Iceland’s liking. He sighed, flopping back in his seat.    
  
“Oh, don’t worry Ice! You can still have fun with the rest of us!” Denmark said, nudging Iceland.    
  
“Yeah, we won’t exclude you.” Finland agreed, smiling at Iceland.    
  
_ It’s not a matter of being excluded, but being treated as less than _ . Iceland did not vocalize this thought, instead reaching for a soda bottle while the rest of them reached for beer. 

Time passed, with everyone talking amongst each other. They played a game of cards that got cut short because Denmark managed to lose his entire hand. He complained to Norway, who claimed to have no idea what had happened to the cards. Though, from the look on Norway’s face, Iceland suspected that his brother knew exactly what had happened. 

As the time passed, though, the amount of beer bottles the four eldest Nordics had emptied grew steadily as well. 

It was a few hours after they had all arrived at Denmark’s house, and everyone was laughing and joking together. 

“Heh, this is almost like the old days.” Denmark said. Immediately, everyone went quiet, including Denmark. Denmark was probably the quietest of them all. It was eerie, Iceland didn’t like it. He looked around. Norway looked tense, Sweden seemed uncomfortable, and Finland wouldn’t stop fidgeting in his seat. Denmark was completely still. 

“What’s with you guys? What’s wrong? Why are you acting so weird?” Iceland asked, breaking the thick silence that had settled in the house. He was met with blank stares from everyone. It made him uneasy. 

“He doesn’t know…” Iceland heard Finland whisper. He watched as Finland casted worried glances to the others, and eventually found Finland’s big brown eyes looking into his own. 

“What don’t I know?” Iceland said. No one answered for a good few minutes. He observed that Denmark looked close to tears. He wondered why. 

“I’ll tell him. It doesn't hurt me as much to talk about it. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Finland said to Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They nodded.    
  
“I’m sorry. So, so sorry, it wasn’t fair of me to put ya through what I did.” Denmark said, turning to Norway and Sweden. The two simply nodded. They had long forgiven the Dane for what he’d done, but what had happened still hurt and affected them.

“What’d he do? Fin, what’s going on?” Iceland asked. He was confused and frightened; it was rare to see his family acting this way. He watched as Finland took a deep breath. Before Finland could even get a word out, however, he was interrupted by Sweden getting up and leaving the room.  _ Could it really be that bad? _

“Sve…” Finland whispered, watching Sweden leave. He stared at the door a moment after it closed behind Sweden before turning back to the confused teenager. 

“Okay… before I start, I want you to know that what happened is all in the past, and everyone has forgiven each other for what they’d done. That doesn’t make their actions excusable, though. So learn from this, learn that what happened is not okay and to not repeat what had been done. But hold no hard feelings towards anyone because of it.” Finland said. His voice was both soft and stern at the same time. Iceland had never heard him talk like that before.

“Alright…”

So Finland began. He told Iceland of the Kalmar Union, about Sweden leaving it and what had happened as a result of that, and the eventual dissolution of the union. He talked about the Stockholm Massacre, and of the Napoleonic wars. He also said that from about 1520-1814, Sweden and Denmark/Norway had gone to war about 11 times. This wasn’t all that was said, but Norway had heard enough.

“I’m… I’m gonna check on Sve…” Norway said, quickly leaving the room the way Sweden did. Iceland stared after his brother. How was it that he had no idea any of this went on? He heard a sob come from Denmark, and looked toward him. Denmark, the eldest Nordic and the King of Scandinavia. How was it that Iceland was raised by him and had not known until now the horrors he had rained upon his brethren? 

By the time Finland stopped talking, he too had tears in his eyes, but he smiled through them as he looked at Iceland. It was quiet again now. Iceland’s head hurt from all the information he had learned in such a short time. Denmark was not crying anymore, but staring at the door with a blank expression on his face. One Iceland had never seen on him before, but on his brother many, many times. Something clicked inside him. He now understood things he hadn’t before.

“Can… can I bring the others back in?” Iceland asked, not waiting for a response before heading off to search for his brother and Sweden. 

He found them sitting side by side in the hallway. They were only close enough for their knees to touch, but Iceland assumed that was their way of saying “I’m here for you, I understand, and we’re safe now.” Only Norway looked up when he heard Iceland walk closer.    
  
“You must think us all terrible now, dontcha, lillebror?” Norway asked, a dry, bitter laugh forcing its way out of his throat at the end of his sentence. “I wouldn’t blame you. We were pretty awful to each other back then. Didn’t give each other space and time to grow up; instead we forced each other to. Who knew what being a kid was back then? Certainly not me, but I can’t speak for the others. We were young, yes, but kids? No. Forces to be reckoned with, and we just all went head to head too often. It wasn’t that fun. It wasn’t domestic, or nice, or warm, or cozy, or as carefree as it is now. We knew not of that when we were younger… I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it from you. I’m sorry for even trying to.” Norway said solemnly. He was quiet, like usual, but more so than usual, too. Like he was afraid someone else would hear. Like he was afraid it’d all happen again.

“No, it’s fine… I mean, it isn’t, but it’s in the past now and it won’t happen again, so…” Iceland sighed. He wasn’t good at comforting people. “Just, come back? Both of you?”    
  
Sweden nodded, getting up from his seat and walking back towards the room Finland and Denmark were in. Iceland heard the Dane loudly proclaim his apologies towards the Swede before the door shut again. He shook his head.

Iceland sat down beside Norway, where Sweden had been sitting. He sat closer than Sweden did, though, and rested his head on Norway’s shoulder. It wasn’t often he did this, but he figured his brother could use some support right now. 

“Hey, Nor?” 

“Hmm?” Norway hummed.    
  
“It’ll all be alright. So, don’t worry, big brother, because we’ll all be fine.” Iceland said. He heard a shaky breath come from Norway before two arms were wrapped around him tightly. Norway had twisted so he could hug Iceland, and now rested his chin on Iceland’s shoulder. His hugs were nearly as bone-crushing as Finland’s, and Norway’s hair tickled the side of Iceland’s face, which was uncomfortable. Iceland awkwardly brought his arms around Norway and patted his back. He wasn’t used to this. 

“Um, Nor? Can’t breathe…” Iceland wheezed, tapping on Norway’s back lightly.    
  
“Oh, sorry.” Norway said, letting go of Iceland. He smiled though, and Iceland smiled back, knowing his brother was feeling a little better than earlier. “Let’s head in.” Nor said, standing up. He helped up Iceland, too, and the two of them walked towards the room together. 

When they entered, they were enveloped in a big hug from Denmark, who was apologizing to Norway and Iceland profusely.    
  
“Get off, Dane.” Norway said, trying to wiggle out of Denmark’s grip. Iceland managed to slip away. He sat down by Finland and watched his brother and Denmark, noticing that his brother stopped squirming and was now whispering something to the other, while stroking his hair and hugging him with the other arm. Denmark seemed to calm down. Iceland didn’t know what Norway had said, but he knew that only he could have such an effect on Denmark. 

He thought about what he had been told by Finland, and what his brother had said to him.  _ Who knew what being a kid was back then? Certainly not me…  _ the words rang in his head like a church bell striking 12 o'clock.    
  
Suddenly, it all made sense to him why they coddled him and treated him as a child so much, especially Norway. They wanted him to experience what they couldn’t. They didn’t want him to live like they had. They wanted to protect him from those evils. And he found himself completely grateful for that.    
  
He also realized that their childish behaviour now was compensation for all the times they couldn’t act that way as kids. They were silly, and loud, and hyper, and all over the place now because they couldn’t afford to be back then. And he found himself not minding when Denmark suggested they play another game, this time a board game. 

So, if later in the night when Den suggested they all stayed over because it was late, Iceland didn’t make a comment about how that would be childish. When Norway suggested they sing lullabies, Iceland didn’t protest and instead joined in with his brother. 

Of course, he still got annoyed when he felt he was being treated like a little kid, but he knew why they did that now. He didn’t give them as much trouble for it as he once would. And if they noticed? 

Well, not a word was said about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm writing a lot lately. Whether or not that's good, I'm not sure, but heh, here I am! So this was originally a headcanon from SheepOutTetraDecagon, but they allowed me to write it as a fic! (Title is inspired by Green Day's new song "Still Breathing")
> 
> You can catch me at norwaythememelord on tumblr if you wanna talk about this (or anything)!


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